The present application relates generally to a stake device for supporting, erecting, and anchoring a tree, and more particularly, to a tree support stake that provides a gradual flex limit to the tree and serves in its various configurations as a combination nursery stake, a supporting tension wire, and a landscape stake.
The current method of training young trees to grow in a straight, vertical orientation in the containerized ornamental nursery industry is to use a wooden nursery stake embedded in a growing medium disposed in a growing container. As the tree grows in its vertical dimension, the nursery operators band or tie the trunk of the growing tree to the nursery stake, effecting both etiolation of the trunk at the expense of maximum growth elongation of the same. As the tree grows progressively taller, it is banded at higher points along the nursery stake. As the tree reaches the terminus of the nursery stake and meets other key growth milestones such as minimum root mass, trunk girth, and height, the tree is either shifted to a larger container or is readied for sale to be transplanted into the ornamental landscape or other setting. Due to the nature of the cultivation of container-grown nursery trees where the trees are forced to maximize their rate of vertical growth, the resulting container-grown trees are often top-heavy and etiolated. To prevent container-grown trees from toppling in the wind in the nursery growing setting, the trees are typically attached to tension wires permanently affixed in the nursery setting. Upon installation of the containerized tree into an ornamental landscape setting, the nursery stake is removed from the tree and landscape stake (conventionally lodge poles and accessories) are used to secure and support the tree. The nursery stake is typically discarded after the installation as the sole intended function thereof is to serve in training and support the trunk of the tree during maturation in the container ready for market. However, the nursery stake is often mistakenly left on the tree and installed in the landscape together with the tree by both amateurs, and in due to oversight or haste, professional landscapers. Such a mistake is likely to compromise the desired growth of the tree transplanted into the landscape.
The transplanting of trees into the landscape is a task well known to those skilled in the art. The task basically includes the steps of digging a hole of sufficient size, placing the root ball of the tree within the hole, and back-filling the hole with soil. To ensure that nursery-grown trees are properly maintained in the desired upward orientation, and to allow for movement of the tree's trunk, a landscape stake and tree-tie system, or other tie and guying system is often used to direct such growth. Examples of conventional landscape stake and tie or guying systems include the lodge pole and tension wires as mentioned above. As known in the art, the more the trunk of the tree bends without breaking and without allowing too much bend such that the appearance of the tree in the ornamental landscape under wind loads does not appear to be compromised, the faster the strength and diameter of the trunk increases which also hastens the transition of the tree away from the need for the landscape stake. A common drawback of the conventional stake and tie or guying systems is that they severely limited flex, that is, the conventional landscape stake and tie system are typically too restrictive to provide sufficient tree flex and thereby retard proper tree growth.
Other concerns associated with the conventional stake and tie or guying system are the cost and the intensive labor required to install the same. With respect to the latter, the conventional stake and tie or guying system requires the installer to exercise great skill in connecting the support device to the tree. Incorrect tying such as tying the support device at a point too low along the trunk of the tree can cause the trunk of the tree to snap, while tying the support device at a point too high along the tree overly restricts flex movement of the trunk. The nature of conventional landscape stake (lodge pole) support methods occasionally does not provide sufficient anchoring of the tree thus allowing the tree to tip over during high wind condition. The nature of conventional staking methods also allows for chafing of the back surfaces due to abrasion against the lodge poles. The effectiveness of the conventional tree staking devices is subject to the supporting characteristics of the soil of ornamental installation. An example of lodge pole failure due to insufficient soil structure is the collapse of the poles into or towards the tree due to the pull of the tying device. Furthermore, most of the conventional stakes such as the lodge pole require specialized tools for installation—such devices are intrinsically dangerous in that the operation of the same may result in injuries to the users. Drawbacks such as trunk rub and/or damage upon lateral branches of the tree are also associated with the conventional support device due to maladjustment and shift thereof. In addition to the above, most of the prior art support devices occupy significant space around the tree in the landscape and are aesthetically unappealing due to their dominating appearance. The former characteristic causes great difficulty in some installation settings such as those that are narrow or confined by landscape elements such as concrete sidewalks, planter grates, asphalt parking lots, etc. Likewise, such devices can greatly interfere with the ability to maintain the landscape about the base of the tree (that is, mowing, line-trimming, weeding, and other chores).
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a support device that can initially or independently serve as the nursery stake for a container-grown tree, simultaneously serve as a substitute for the tension wires in the nursing environment, and finally serve as a landscape stake when the tree is transplanted into the landscape. Therefore, the replacement of the nursery stake is not required, nor is the need for the construction of infrastructure in the wholesale nursery such as tension wires, and the ArborStake used as the nursery stake is thus used in its other orientation as the landscape stake. As a result, the overall material and labor cost to stake the tree both in the nursery and in the landscape setting are significantly reduced. Further, the growth of the transplanted tree in the landscape will not be disturbed by the unremoved nursery stake.
There is also a need to provide a support device that is less expensive, easier and faster to install, reusable, more firmly embedded in the landscape, occupying less space, and less conspicuous than the conventional support device.
Additionally, there is a substantial need to provide a tree support device that provides a maximum and gradually increasing flex limit from the bottom to the top of the tree supported thereby, such that the growth of the tree is properly maintained at a desired upward orientation, while the strength and diameter of the trunk of the tree increases.